Internships

Doing an internship for credit requires Department of Journalism approval. Our decision turns on two things: your job description (we don’t want to give academic credit unless you are treated like a professional with professional responsibilities) and the nature of your supervision. Ideally, we want you to be supervised by an employer with significant experience. The point is to learn something.

Fill out an internship form, available here. All internship applications are reviewed by the department chair. You are required to supply a detailed job description and the name/contact info of the employer.

Credit varies according to the length of the internship and the amount worked per week, equating to roughly 60 hours of total work for 1 academic credit.

Instructions on progress reports and employer evaluations will be on Canvas.

Credit is awarded through JOU 4940 Internship, which is a departmentally controlled course. Registration – upon completion of the proper paperwork – is done by the Department of Journalism office.

You must take the internship credit in the semester that that you have the internship. Credit for internships cannot be awarded retroactively. There is no letter grade for the internship courses. The class must be taken pass-fail.

If for any reason you are uncomfortable on your internship, please let us know. If you feel that the employer is violating the guidelines of the internship, or if there is something in the workplace that makes you uncomfortable, we need to know.  Please call or e-mail.

For all correspondence related to the internship, write: Ted Spiker, professor and chair, University of Florida Department of Journalism, P.O. Box 118400, Gainesville, FL. 32611. Email: jouasst@jou.ufl.edu (Email is preferred, but some employers like having a regular address.)

You are not required to do an internship for credit. The important thing is the experience. Sometimes, when you are not being paid on your internship, it does not seem financially wise to pay tuition and fees (JOU 4940 is a for-credit class, after all) for the privilege of working for free. It’s your decision whether you want to do an internship for credit.